A book about travel has power. A book about travel can take us to Botswana, Bolivia, or Bhutan. It’s literary escapism—an easily accessed portal to another time and place. But most of all, a book about travel, when done well, inspires travel.
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My love of books is old and runs deep. I have vivid memories of reading Nancy Drew, circa 1978, by a sliver of light seeping into my bedroom from the hallway. I’d lay on my green shag carpet by that light and read voraciously—always fearful my mom might appear and send me back to bed.
My taste in books has varied over the years. Thrillers and mysteries monopolize my 20s. Chick-lit and romance novels reign over my 30s. Historical and women’s fiction dominated my 40s. These days, I read to escape—to travel the world through ink on paper.
Travel Inertia
Inertia is defined as a tendency to do nothing or to remain unchanged. After a few years of watching mind-numbing TV (did anyone else finish Netflix?) and dodging calls from Spam Risk, even I had a case of travel inertia. I overcame it by planning a few trips, to places like Maine, the Catskills, and Corsica.
But travel isn’t what it used to be. Flights are increasingly delayed or canceled. Luggage is lost. Five-star service is anything but. The luster of travel is dismally dulled by current conditions.
I wonder how best to reignite the travel spark. Perhaps I’ll go back to the basics. Books, and especially books about travel, have always transported me. They’ve fueled my wanderlust and given me the means to break away from everyday life. Even if momentarily.
My treasured tomes, don’t fail me now.
Five Books about Travel (That Will Inspire Travel)
Being a graphic designer for a large part of my adult life gave me a deep appreciation for Garamond, Baskerville, and Times Roman. The legends of literary fonts. I used to kern ligatures with a surgeon’s precision. I’d swoon over book jackets at Barnes and Noble, the ones with an elegant marriage of typography and imagery. My husband would joke I judged books by their covers. He was right.
There are many books about travel that have encouraged me to pack my bags and get out of town. But these five in particular have been the most influential. Whether because they take me to a part of the world I know little about or a part of the world I’d like to revisit.
So, grab a Kindle. Or, if old-school like me, head to a local bookstore or library. (My DC go-to is Politics & Prose). Check out my favorite books about travel. I hope they encourage you to escape reality, one way or another.
What’s on my travel wish list? Click here: Get my Wish List Destination Guide FREE.
A book about travel / Morocco
The Caliph’s House: A Year in Casablanca, By Tahir Shah
What’s the gist?
English travel writer, Tahir Shah, takes a gamble to fulfill a childhood dream by moving his family from London to Casablanca. Their new home is Dar Khalifa, the Caliph’s House. It’s an unmitigated money pit located on the edge of a shantytown.
In his unputdownable memoir, Shah attempts the arduous task of rebuilding the Caliph’s House while simultaneously building a life in a foreign country. As he learns all too quickly, nothing in Morocco is simple, straightforward, or goes according to plan.
For instance, renovations come to a screeching halt once Shah learns his house is filled with jinns (invisible spirits). The rituals used to rid the house of these spirits are just one flawlessly written and animated element of Shah’s outrageous black comedy. A tale of perseverance and grit that also portrays a distinct and evocative sense of place.
Why this book about travel inspires
On the advice of a friend, I read The Caliph’s House before our trip to Morocco. Not only did it illustrate the colors, sights, sounds, and even tastes of the country, but it also brought modern-day Morocco to life with self-deprecating and utterly candid humor. Thank you, James.
Power Quote: “I found myself trapped in an awkward position. … I had a gangster for a neighbor, a house marooned in a shantytown with no title deeds and the weather was getting bad. And I was now being told that I should abandon the house because an invisible spirit was angry with us living there.”
The Caliph’s House is compelling in ways well beyond jinns and gangsters. Shah’s characters, from gardeners to government officials, are multi-faceted and vibrant from page one. His writing pulls readers into a well-woven Moroccan tapestry of myths and traditions—whether describing a crooked street or a crooked carpenter. Read The Caliph’s House, or redeem some well-earned miles and go live it. Either way, Morocco will not disappoint.
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A book about travel / Italy
Beautiful Ruins, By Jess Walter
What’s the gist?
From the backlots of Hollywood to the rocky coast of Italy, Beautiful Ruins is a social satire of an almost-love affair spanning decades and continents. The book has been said to portray the real-life love affair between Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton after filming Cleopatra, in 1963.
Beautiful Ruins opens with Hollywood starlet Dee Moray arriving at a quiet Italian coastal village by boat in the early 1960s. She claims to be dying of cancer. Pasquale, a young and starstruck hotel owner, falls in love. So begins a story of tortured love, masked identities, and failure.
Why this book about travel inspires
Artfully written with multiple and parallel storylines, Jess Walter’s descriptions of the Italian Riviera and California are equally captivating. The pristine beaches and brightly-colored hilltop homes of the Cinque Terre come to life alongside his theatrical characters.
Power Quote: “Porto Vergogna was a tight cluster of a dozen old whitewashed houses, an abandoned chapel, … all huddled like a herd of sleeping goats in a crease in the sheer cliffs. Behind the village, the rocks rose six hundred feet to a wall of black, striated mountains. Below it, the sea settled in a rocky, shrimp-curled cove…”
Walter’s book is filled with brilliant depictions of romantic coastal hotels and sun-baked yachts. These movie-like scenes and scenery may inspire a journey to this ever-glamorous part of the world. With a sharp sardonic edge and a dramatic plot that builds in intensity, Walter’s novel is escapist fiction at its best.
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A book about travel / The Arctic Circle
The Memoirs of Stockholm Sven, By Nathaniel Ian Miller
What’s the gist?
This extraordinary account of a young Swede who flees Stockholm to seek solitude in the Arctic Circle after a tragic accident leaves him disfigured.
Completely original in voice, with endearing, misfit characters, The Memoirs of Stockholm Sven somehow manages to describe a stark, colorless landscape in vivid color. The book weaves a tender web of human suffering and connection while illuminating the perils of living in an isolated and nearly inaccessible place.
Why this book about travel inspires
My friend Gretchen recommended Miller’s book before our trip to Finnish Lapland. What better way to be immersed in the vastness of the polar regions than to read a novel set in the Arctic Circle?
From Stockholm to Svalbard, Miller’s narrative evokes the breathtaking arctic polar tundra with pitch-perfect prose. While living in remote Svalbard, Sven, despite his best efforts not to, befriends a troupe of compelling characters. A Finnish fur trapper, a Scottish geologist, a polar bear, and a devoted canine each play fundamental roles in Sven’s epic adventure.
Power Quote: “Tapio sat himself on a large piece of driftwood, so I did the same. A gentle swell rocked the beach iceberg bits against each other. The sun was beginning its hasty swoop to the horizon, and light passed through the ice in unruly refractions. The blue was almost more than I could take.”
I read about Sven’s endeavors at night by a warm fire with a cup of herbal tea. I try to anticipate the 22 hours of darkness that await us each day in Finland. Miller’s descriptions of the Arctic are so convincing, that I get chilly while reading. Well done, Mr. Miller. I’m patiently waiting for your next book with a heap of woolly blankets.
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What’s on my travel wish list? Click here: Get my Wish List Destination Guide FREE.
A book about travel / The Amazon
State of Wonder, by Ann Patchett
What’s the gist?
Patchett’s novel, State of Wonder, is set deep in the South American Amazon. Dr. Marina Singh, a pharmacologist, finds herself traveling to Brazil to investigate the strange disappearance of a colleague.
There, Dr. Singh travels downriver by pontoon, passing tribes that have yet to lay eyes on white people. Tribes that don’t speak a traditional language, but merely use sounds. From murder and mystique to friendship and feminism, this rollercoaster of a novel takes twists and turns as intricate and death-defying as the Amazonian jungle itself.
Why this book about travel inspires
At once a story of a personal pilgrimage as well as a page-turning thriller, Patchett is an artist with words. Her canvas is the verdant rainforests of Brazil. State of Wonder conjures up the raw and thrilling emotions that go along with traveling to far-flung locations and being outside of our comfort zone. Her prose ignites wanderlust in the purest sense of the word.
Whether describing a microscopic plant cell or a writhing anaconda, her words dive deep into the undergrowth and visually explode off the page. State of Wonder combines suspense and absorbing characters while delivering an unexpected ending.
Power Quote: “Every drop of rain hit the ground with such force it bounced back up again, giving the earth the appearance of something boiling.”
Lest you think I’m encouraging a trip that will have you encountering poisonous dart frogs or 8-foot snakes, it’s the sense of place that’s most evocative here. The joy of heading into unchartered territory, whether from a travel perspective, or a literary one.
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A book about travel / Everywhere
Less, by Andrew Sean Greer
What’s the gist?
Failed, aging novelist, Arthur Less, accepts a series of invitations to literary events around the world to avoid the wedding of a former boyfriend. A brilliant satire that takes Arthur from a mishap in Morocco to a brush with death in Berlin, to being deserted on a desert island.
A reminder that what comes around goes around, this tale of human nature hilariously illustrates the perils of running away from our problems. While reading about Arthur’s escapades, I find myself laughing out loud. A lot. Fall in love with our endearing protagonist as he not only loses his luggage but his grasp on reality.
Why this book about travel inspires
An imaginative and absorbing tale, Greer takes the reader around the world with fresh humor, self-deprecation, and sharp wit. From the ever-busy streets of New York City, the culinary world of Japan, and the romantic rooftop hotels of Paris. Readers will revel in the details of Arthur’s visit to India, cheer for him in Germany, and despair as he becomes unhinged in Mexico.
Power Quote: “New York is a city of eight million people, approximately seven million of whom will be furious when they hear you were in town and didn’t meet them for an expensive dinner, five million furious you didn’t visit their new baby, three million furious you didn’t see their new show, one million furious you didn’t call for sex, but only five available to meet you.”
A touch of Jerry Seinfeld, a sliver of Carrie Bradshaw, and a handful of ‘Just Jack’. Oh, and a million laughs. Less will have you laughing out loud, too.
Note: There’s now even more Less to love. Greer’s latest book Less is Lost, (Hey, I’m lost too!) is climbing up the bestseller lists as we speak. This time we follow Arthur and his mishaps on a road trip across America. Is there hope for Arthur after 50? I, for one, can’t wait to find out.
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A book about travel is a powerful thing
The best books about travel are the ones that immerse me in the landscape and culture. The ones that allow me to smell the food and taste the wine. I’m in awe of writing that prepares me for a journey into unknown regions. Whether that be South America, South Dakota, or New South Wales. It’s a different way to explore the world, for sure, but still pretty satisfying.
I no longer have to read sneakily behind my mom’s back (Mom, I bet you knew all along). I’m a grown-up now. I can read all night if I want to. Although I can’t don’t. Getting old ain’t for sissies, as my dad likes to say.
A book about travel is powerful beyond its transporting nature. It’s how we learn about other civilizations and people. It’s how we expand our mindset and our vocabularies. Its power is right there on the page. You need only be able to stay awake long enough to absorb it.
Safe travels.
What’s on my travel wish list? Click here: Get my Wish List Destination Guide FREE.
I’ve read “Less” and “Beautiful Ruins,” and now I’m adding the others to my list! If you’re up for two historical fictions in France, I thoroughly enjoyed “The Vineyards of Champagne,” by Juliet Blackwell and “The Winemaker’s Wife,” by Kristin Harmel!
I will add those to mine! Always looking to escape in a great book! Thanks, Ashley! -Jamie
Great recommendations!!! Mine are: Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight, such visceral descriptions of Southern Africa; Everybody Was So Young – made me fall in love with Antibes before I even went there; and of course The Sun Also Rises and A Moveable Feast – for my beloved Paris!!!
I love those additions, Sally! Putting them on my to-read list pronto! -Jamie
As I started to read this latest entry from Jamie, I immediately thought that I’d have to add to her list “Beautiful Ruins”, a thoroughly enjoyable read that takes us from Cinque Terre to Hollywood over the course of 50 years in its main characters’ lives. But then, she already had it on her list. Very disappointing as I generally enjoy sharing my uninvited opinions across a variety of topics.
Undaunted, here are a couple of other novels that people might enjoy while on the road, although my guess is that many have already read one, perhaps both of them. John Berendt has a great writing style. What I have enjoyed most in the two novels of his that I’ve read has been the exchanges in which their characters engage in what should ordinarily be the privacy of a living room, a restaurant table or an office. It’s akin to being a fly on the wall and eavesdropping on juicy gossip covering all the goings-on in town.
“Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil” was an instant success that I pretty much devoured on a summer trip to Florence, mainly at poolside at Torre di Bellosguardo (check it out if you aren’t familiar with it). The book to this day holds one of the longest standing places on the NY Times bestseller list so I imagine that most of Jamie’s followers have already read it. My Florence location and the book’s many colorful characters made for good company on a memorable trip, and Berendt’s treatment of the Savannah setting makes one feel as if he were physically walking through the city’s many beautiful squares.
My favorite city in Europe is Venice. I had to wait for over 10 years before Berendt came out with his next novel, “The City of Falling Angels” which describes the city as it recovered from the fire that destroyed its opera house, La Fenice. It was worth the wait. Berendt took a house in Venice and in his novel, speaks less about the city and more about its inhabitants, who, similarly to his characters in “Garden”, are remarkable and unforgettable, from the Murano glass blower to the chef who knows more about and produces the greatest variety of rat poisons on the world. And all the while, Venice’s beautiful decay lends a great backdrop to his narrative.